Chapter 14

"I don't want you to go!" A small voice cried.

Today was the day that Prince Iroh returned to the war front. Ursa had noticed the way that Lu Ten had gotten quieter over the last week and clung to his father. It was heartbreaking to watch and it made her wish that Iroh could stay with them for Lu Ten's sake. But she knew that the army needed Iroh. It was a hard thing to wrap her mind around that the kind Iroh that she had come to know the past two months while Iroh was on leave from the army was also the same fierce newly minted General for the army. They had all heard about his military accomplishments and the brilliant career that he was destined to have.

It hadn't escaped her notice the way that Ozai looked at his brother and father with such contempt and the way that his mood had soured over the last week. While Lu Ten grew sad and quiet, Ozai had grown sullen and irritable. She wasn't sure if his mood would turn around without his brother around but she certainly hoped that it would. Ursa still didn't understand the sense of competition that Ozai carried with him when it came to his older brother. It was something that she had accepted and learned not to question anymore because Ozai didn't want to talk about it.

Ursa's heart broke as she watched the tears fall down her nephew's cheeks as he threw himself at his dad's feet.

"Prince Lu Ten," Fire Lord Azulon chastised.

She kept her face blank even though she wanted to say something. She had learned that saying something in front of Ozai's father was unacceptable, even as his daughter-in-law. Or perhaps because she was his daughter-in-law.

Prince Iroh knelt down in front of his son, though, regardless of his father's words. "I will be back soon, Lu Ten. I promise you that. It's not going to be like the last time that I was gone. I know that it's hard but you need to be the brave soldier that I know that you are. And you have Ursa this time too. Whatever you need, you can go to your Aunt Ursa and she will be there for you."

"Promise?" Lu Ten asked.

"Promise," Iroh said, wrapping his arms around his son, holding him close to him for a few moments. "I will be back, son. I promise."

Ursa had looked away, it was hard enough that she didn't get to see her family as much as she would like to and they lived on the other side of the city. And she was an adult. She couldn't imagine what it was like for Lu Ten with his father going and going away to war at that. She would do whatever she had to to help Lu Ten get through this until his father could come home again for a visit. It wouldn't be forever but she was sure that it would seem like forever for him.

"I don't want you to go," Lu Ten whimpered, tears falling down his face.

Iroh kissed his head. He glanced up and saw the disapproval on his father's face. "Go to your Aunt Ursa now, Lu Ten," he told him firmly.

Ursa stepped forward and opened her arm so Lu Ten could come running into her arms. She knew that Iroh had to get going; there was a strict itinerary today that he needed to follow. His ship needed to leave on time to be in the Earth Kingdom on time. But she knew that Lu Ten wouldn't see it that way.

She gave Iroh a half-smile as he nodded his head. She would do whatever she had to to make sure that Lu Ten was happy and that he grew up alright. Even though she had only known him for a little while, she already loved him so much. He was her family and she was going to make sure that she could take care of him while his father was away.

And she hoped that the war would be over soon and Iroh would be able to come home to them and get to be the father that she knew that Iroh wanted to be.

With Iroh and his father and Ozai gone, Lu Ten broke down crying and she held him tightly and tried to soothe him.


It was well after midnight when Ozai slipped from the palace and into Caldera City. It had been a long day of war meetings with his father and the generals. With Iroh back on the war front his father had finally noticed him. His father was even floating the idea of training him to take on a command with the Navy. It felt good having his father's attention on him rather than Iroh. If he had known that his father would take him more seriously after he was married than he would have found a wife much sooner.

When he had left the palace Ursa had been asleep which was what he had wanted. He didn't want her to ask any questions or notice that he was missing. There was a lot that he didn't want Ursa to know about him and about the things that he got into.

Ozai found himself standing in front of Meiko's family home. The first thing that he noticed was that it was dark in the house and it looked like they were all sleeping. He had sent Lee to tell her that he would be coming tonight and he felt a surge of annoyance that she wasn't waiting for him. It felt strange that he hadn't seen her since his wedding day but with Iroh around his days had been so busy. Iroh was so moral and if he suspected that Ozai was being unfaithful to Ursa he was sure that he would do something about it. He hadn't wanted to see the look of judgment on Iroh's face so he had stayed away from Meiko.

"Meiko!" He called; trying to keep his voice down, the last thing he wanted was for someone else to see him there.

He waited a few moments and rolled his eyes when he saw that Meiko clearly wasn't coming. He wanted to just go back to the palace and forget about this. It wasn't worth it. But he didn't want to deal with her complaining that he hadn't come to see her. It had been so long since they had been alone and while he didn't like coming to see her at her house with her parents there he couldn't choose to be picky.

Ozai glanced around the street and listened intently. It seemed that there was nobody out at this hour and the hourly patrol wasn't nearby. He leaned down and picked up a stone and looked down at it in his hand. He felt like a teenager and he hated it. But he threw it at Meiko's window and smirked when the stone made contact with the window, Ozai heard the ping of the stone on the window. He just hoped that it was enough to wake Meiko up.

He felt his lips turn up into a smirk as he saw light appear in the window and Meiko appeared holding a candle. She opened the window and stood there, looking down at him. He could see the anger on her face and he sighed. This wasn't going to be a fun time like he had hoped.

"Ozai?"

"Let me in."

"No," she said.

"Seriously? Lee told you that I was coming tonight."

"It's after midnight!"

"I got held up. Now let me in or we're done here," he threatened. "Your choice."

Meiko was still for a moment before she shut the window and he saw the light from the candle disappear. He made his way over to the front door to wait for her to come and let him in.

When the door opened, Meiko didn't say anything to him but she stepped aside so that he could walk in. He listened to the quiet in the house for a few moments. He knew that her parents were asleep upstairs and if he woke them up then he would have to answer questions that he didn't want to answer. When he was satisfied that they were the only ones awake in the house, he walked further into the house and followed her up the steps to her bedroom. He made sure that his footsteps were silent, he didn't need her father waking up and finding out that he was there.

The two of them stood in the bedroom in silence. Ozai wasn't sure what was causing the tension between them or the silent fury in Meiko's eyes. It was one of the reasons that he had been avoiding her; he didn't want to listen to her complaints about his marriage to Ursa.

"So?" Ozai finally said. "You have been asking for me to come to see you. I'm here and you don't talk to me? Why am I here, Meiko?"

Meiko stared at him for a few moments. "I'm pregnant."

Ozai faltered and stared at her, unblinking. She was pregnant? Meiko was pregnant? He felt like the floor had fallen out from under him. He didn't want to have a child with Meiko. If it wasn't for the line of succession and the fact that Ursa would take over all of the childrearing he wouldn't even want to have kids with his wife. Meiko being pregnant with his child was adding complications that he didn't want to deal with.

Unless…

"No," he said, stepping away from her. "It's not mine."

He wasn't prepared for the fury in her eyes as she looked at him. The unabashed hatred in her eyes was so different from the looks that she usually gave him.

"It's not—it's not yours? I've never been with anybody other than you. I've been trying to tell you for two months, Ozai. How dare you say that it's not your baby?" Meiko was so angry she could barely put her thoughts together. "You forbade me from being with anybody other than you. How could it be anyone but your baby?"

Ozai glanced uncomfortably at the door. She was being too loud. She was going to wake up her parents.

"Meiko shhh," Ozai hissed, his eyes wide.

"You're telling me to be quiet?" Meiko demanded. "How dare you!"

Her voice was getting louder and louder with every word and Ozai was growing more and more uncomfortable.

"Okay, okay, just…your parents, Meiko."

"I don't care!"

Even though he didn't want this baby and he didn't want to admit that it was his child the way that Meiko was reacting told him that it was. He didn't know what to do about it. If he had to go to his father and tell him that he had fathered an illegitimate child with Meiko he knew that his father would never give him a Navy command. He would never let him do another thing in his life. He would be ruined in his father's eyes. And he didn't even want to think about how Ursa was going to react to this. She could never know that he had a child with Meiko.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry," Ozai said a hint of desperation in his voice. He wanted Meiko to be quiet. "I'm sorry for telling you to be quiet and I'm sorry for saying that it isn't my baby."

Ozai wasn't one to say sorry but he was desperate to get Meiko to calm down.

"We need to figure something out," Ozai finally said, looking at her. "Do your parents know?"

"No," she said softly. "My mother suspects something, I think. But…I haven't told them."

"Good," Ozai said.

He needed some kind of plan. The fewer people that knew that Meiko was pregnant with his baby the better. He was glad that her parents didn't know about the baby yet. His eyes went to her stomach and for a moment he imagined what she would look like when she was heavily pregnant. But he wasn't going to see her then.

"You're going to go to the Earth Kingdom colonies," Ozai finally said, not looking at her.

"Excuse me?" Meiko demanded.

"You heard me. I'll buy you a house in the colonies. Nobody is ever going to know that this baby is mine. You understand that nobody can know the truth about your baby, don't you? If people knew the truth it would complicate everything."

Meiko was staring at Ozai with wide eyes. "You're sending me away?"

"It's for your own good."

"No," Meiko snapped. "It's for your reputation. Don't pretend that you're trying to care about me and the baby."

"Meiko…"

"Get out," she snapped, pointing at the door. "Get the hell out of my house."

"Meiko, you're overreacting."

"I'm not. I'm tired of you being ashamed of me. I've wasted enough of my time on you, Prince Ozai. Go enjoy your life with Ursa. We'll be fine."

Ozai stood there unmoving. Meiko was going to have to go. She couldn't stay in the city with her child. With his child.

"I'll go. But you'll hear from Lee when your boat leaves."

"Get out."

He looked at her one last time before he let himself out of her house, his mind going nonstop as he thought of everything that he was going to have to do to get Meiko out of the Capital.

He was going to be a father. He knew that he was going to be a father eventually but he hadn't imagined that it would be this way. He hadn't imagined that he would become a father by Meiko and not Ursa. Ozai was going to have to make plans to get Meiko to the colonies. She was angry with him now but he would go and see her when the child was born. Even if he never acknowledged this child he would try to take care of Meiko and her child. Perhaps if Ursa couldn't get pregnant the child could come and live with them. But he wasn't going to think about that now. Ursa would give them children. He was sure of it.

Author's Note: A shorter chapter than usual but a big one that I've been planning for a while. What do you guys think? Did you see that one coming? I enjoyed having a more Ozai heavy chapter than usual but poor Ursa has no idea whats happened. I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter and I can't wait to get the next one out!